Table 4.
Activities where members of the public observed HCWs wearing gloves and their opinion on appropriateness.
| Procedure | Activity where glove use reported |
Glove use considered inappropriate |
Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Respondents (n) | n | % | ||
| Administrative task | 5 | 4 | 80 | They had gloves on the whole time they treated me; no need for gloves when writing notes |
| Bed-making | 6 | 4 | 66.6 | The bed wasn’t soiled |
| Handling body fluids | 6 | 1 | 17 | I didn’t see the need as I only need assistance and wasn’t touched |
| Injections/IVs | 8 | 2 | 25 | Not required as a non-needle system just attaching a drip line to the end of a venflon |
| Minor invasive procedure | 28 | 1 | 3.6 | I didn’t see them wash their hands and think it was for their protection not mine |
| Phlebotomy | 27 | 5 | 18.5 | No risk as used safer device; would not appear to be body fluid present |
| Non-invasive care | 6 | 2 | 33.3 | No need for wearing gloves when pushing wheel chair |
| Clinical examination | 12 | 3 | 2.8 | No lesions or open wounds visible; scar was fine, no bodily fluids present |
| Dressings | 6 | 0 | 0 | |
| Washing | 3 | 3 | 100 | I am quite clean; unless the HCW needed protecting from the washing cream or me from them, it made the task more difficult and probably unnecessarily exposed me to latex |
| Total | 107 | 25 | ||